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Biotech firm’s new building is net-zero

A biotechnology company has added a six-story net-zero building to its downtown campus in Silver Spring, Maryland. Photo courtesy PRNewsfoto/EwingCole

A biotechnology company has added a six-story net-zero building to its downtown campus in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Designed by EwingCole, the 19,510-m² (210,000-sf), elliptical shaped Unisphere is one of the largest net-zero buildings in the country. It houses clinical operations for pulmonary disease, heart failure, and organ transplantation as well as a virtual drug development lab.

“This smart building takes advantage of multiple sustainability strategies,” said Jared Loos, PE, AIA, EwingCole CEO. “It has no operational carbon footprint because the electrical and thermal energy is renewably generated onsite. It is truly an engineering marvel.”

Strategies employed to achieve net-zero status include the following:

3000 solar or photovoltaic (pv) panels on the building generating 1175 mWh of energy each year, enough to power 100 homes.

A quarter-mile-long concrete maze is located 4 m (12 ft) below the Unisphere. This natural ventilation system, moderates temperatures within the atrium as compared to the exterior climate.

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